Chapter 27
All that she had worked for had been in that house. She sat there across the street on the edge of the sidewalk and stared at the burning ruins. The FDNY had arrived and was slowly working the house fire under control with hoses from several trucks.
The smell of the fire hung heavily on the air, her clothes, and even her hair as a reminder of the events that had just transpired.
That bastard had robbed her of everything that those walls held. Layne shut her eyes. It wasn’t just the material belongings that were lost to the blaze, it was all the intangible memories that went with it.
“I’m not a good guy, and you’re not a good girl.”
Joey’s voice echoed in her mind from the day he first set foot inside that house.
“No, watch! This is the part where he drops the entire plate of food on his date!”
Trashy television girl nights with Rebecca alongside tacos and margaritas.
“It’s yours, Layne. You’ve earned it.”
The way her father dropped the keys into the palm of her hand the day he bought the house for all the hard work she had done for the family business.
All of it was on its way to being nothing but charred wood and ash now.
“Layne?” Liam’s voice prompted her to open her eyes. He half jogged over to her. “What the hell happened?”
Her fingertips quickly swept away a rogue tear from underneath her eye. “What are you doing here?”
“The company handling the fire alarm system had my number on file.” He looked over at the extent of the ongoing damage to the property. “Fuck.”
“Yeah.” She had the same damn sentiment.
He stood there silently staring at the destruction with Layne while she sat there doing the same. There was nothing but the sound of the fire roaring and the water pouring from the hoses trying to contain it. Emergency lights from all the firetrucks continued to reflect off the windows of all the surrounding houses and parked cars on the street. Nearby nosey neighbors peeked out from their houses to watch.
The sound of tires squealing against the pavement could be heard at the end of the street. It was followed by a set of headlights as a car rounded the corner and sped up to the other end of the street where all the emergency vehicles were parked.
The black car quickly pulled off to the side as close to the fire engines as it could get. The lights went dark and a car door was shut as a voice yelled out. “Layne! LAYNE!”
Immediately, she pushed away from the ground to get up onto her feet after hearing Joey’s emotionally charged voice. When her eyes caught sight of him, he was trying to push past three firefighters toward the blaze that had been lit with the intention to consume her.
“Joey!” She took off running towards him. “Joey!”
Hearing her call his name, he shoved off the hands of the first responders trying to keep him from charging into her house. Joey stopped struggling with the men standing between him and her house when he heard the sweetest voice call his name again from the other direction. When he caught sight of her, he immediately sprinted toward her.
When they met in the middle of the street, she threw herself up against him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her face burrowed into his shoulder.
He caught her as she flung herself at him, his arms lifted and held her tightly as he pressed his face into her hair. He didn’t care that she smelled like singed daisies from the smoke and ash. He only cared that he would still have more days to wake up next to her intoxicating scent that reminded him of summer rain on a hill full of daisies.
Layne wrapped her legs around his waist, refusing to let go of him. No matter how closely she held herself against him, it wasn’t close enough. Her body shuddered as the floodgates behind her eyes burst open. His shirt soaked up the tears from her eyes and muffled the sounds of her sobs. Her hands clawed at the shirt on his back, scrunching it up in her hands as she held herself to him.
Joey protectively placed a hand on the back of her head as he hushed into her ear. “I’ve got you. It’s okay, Layney.”
She choked on her own words as she tried to explain everything that had happened. “I-it was Eric. He saw you on the cameras, and… and he was furious. I tried, but?—”
He stopped her right there, holding her tightly in the safety of his arms. “Shh. I’m here, nothing is going to happen to you.”
After what felt like the longest release of emotional turmoil, she lifted her face to look at him. The tears had left their red marks down her cheeks. Visible was the bruise and slight swelling at her temple where she had taken the hit that had rendered her unconscious.
He immediately gave her several kisses of reassurance, not just on her lips but across her face to replace the salty tears. Joey was careful to kiss even more tenderly around the visible injuries.
Layne used one hand to hold onto the back of his neck as her other came up to brush away the strands of hair from her face. The raw abrasions from the cuffs were still fresh on her skin and stung with each flex of her hands.
She sniffled, trying to recover from the emotions that were still taking their toll on her after the evening’s events. “How did you know to come here?”
Joey pressed his forehead against hers, his hands still protectively holding her to him. “I heard it over the police scanner. I recognized the address and…” His voice trailed off, unable to finish what horrible thoughts had entered his mind.
Realizing that he had run straight for the inferno taking over her home, she frowned at him. “You ran towards the house. That was stupid, you wouldn’t have even made it to the stairs.”
He looked her directly in the eyes and shook his head. “Layne, I love you. I would have let the flames take me straight to hell to pay for all my sins before giving up on you.”
Her lower lip trembled as she released a few fresh tears from her eyes. Her lips kissed him several times from hearing him speak those words to her.
A sarcastic voice interrupted what should have been a sweet and tender moment. “Yeah, right.” Liam chimed in, overhearing the private conversation. Her brother always had spectacular timing to decide to open his mouth and subject everyone to his assholery.
Joey’s eyes lost their warmth as he looked over at Liam. Gently, he set Layne down on her feet. He stepped up to Liam looming several inches taller than the younger O’Reilly. “Do you have something to say?” The sharp edge of his tone indicated that Liam was walking on very thin ice.
Liam scoffed and didn’t back away. “I do. You’re full of crap. If Layne didn’t have her head all fucked up by your inability to stay out of her pants, our family wouldn’t be in this mess! You don’t give two shits about her.”
He forcefully shoved Joey to add emphasis to his words. The second Liam put his hands on Joey it set off an immediate reaction. Joey grabbed Liam’s shirt and pushed him back roughly into a parked car. There was no hesitation as Joey’s fist crashed into Liam’s jaw.
“You’re a fuckin’ shitbag!” Joey’s words yelled back at him.
From there, Liam began throwing punches back and the two of them began wrestling with one another. Layne stayed out of the way and watched, knowing Liam could use a little tough love from someone other than her for once.
Joey landed a few more body shots on Liam, who wasn’t anywhere near the same weight class by comparison. It was all too easy for Joey to keep the upper hand while they both wrangled with one another.
Finally, after several minutes of jabs and hooks exchanged, Joey landed one last hit across Liam’s face sending him to the ground. Liam landed on the ground and rolled onto his side while groaning from the ass-kicking Joey had just handed him.
Breathing heavily, Joey wiped his mouth with the back of his hand noticing a small smear of blood from one of the few half-ass hits Liam did manage to land. “I swear to God, if you ever disrespect your sister and all she’s done to fix your fuck-ups again, I will not hesitate to make sure to break your jaw so bad it will have to be wired shut for months.”
Layne walked up to Joey, placing a hand gently on his flexed bicep still tense from the scuffle. “Let’s just go. I can’t be here anymore.” She gestured to the fire still contrasting against the night sky as it consumed what was once her home. The exhaustion of everything she had been through was evident in her voice.
There was still an intensity in Joey’s stare at the spoiled brat writhing on the ground. Finally, he noticed Layne’s hand tugging at his arm and he nodded in agreement. Joey wrapped his hand around hers, intertwining their fingers as he led her back to the Challenger he had arrived in.
Once they were both inside the car, Layne latched her seatbelt and then looked over at him. “Did you mean what you said?”
He raised a brow at her. “The next time he opens his mouth, Layne, I am not holding back. Someone needs to make him learn that there are bigger fish out there that don’t give a fuck.”
“No, that’s not what I was talking about.” Her emerald hues looked at him with the weight of all the evening’s emotions in them.
Realizing what she was questioning, he turned in the driver’s seat and his hand reached over to take hold of her face. The warmth of his palm against her skin made her want to melt into his touch.
“Every damn word of it, and I never plan to let you forget it, either. You are everything that makes me want to continue breathing. I love you, Layney.” Joey leaned over and made sure she felt every ounce of his words as he pulled her into a tender kiss.